2024/2025 Season trade rumours and speculation thread

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Craig has a plan and he’s going to stick to it no matter the outcome this season.
There’s no rush, there’s no panic.
We’re building for the future and he’s not going to mortgage that future just because of a hot start.

Have faith guys, I think Craig’s done a wonderful job doing the right things so far.

It's kind of a funny situation because you want your tradeable assets to have good years to boost their values, but if they all have really good years, there is a good chance that the team is going to be pretty good.

Not that having a good team is a problem. It's the opposite of a problem. My only concern is the message it might send to players who busted their asses all year to get a chance to make the playoffs, just to pull the rug out and still trade the big pieces at the deadline. I don't think you build goodwill with players that way because they all want a chance to win. Like when guys like Zary, Wolf, Pospisil, etc... are up for contracts, would that be enough for them to avoid committing long term?

I hope the team is good enough to entertain us all year and show promise for the future, but that the standings still make the decisions easy.

[Badgers Nose]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

It's kind of a funny situation because you want your tradeable assets to have good years to boost their values, but if they all have really good years, there is a good chance that the team is going to be pretty good.

Not that having a good team is a problem. It's the opposite of a problem. My only concern is the message it might send to players who busted their asses all year to get a chance to make the playoffs, just to pull the rug out and still trade the big pieces at the deadline. I don't think you build goodwill with players that way because they all want a chance to win. Like when guys like Zary, Wolf, Pospisil, etc... are up for contracts, would that be enough for them to avoid committing long term?

I hope the team is good enough to entertain us all year and show promise for the future, but that the standings still make the decisions easy.

If you deal assets that you would otherwise lose for nothing, and you have kids pushing for those spots, then you probably don't lose any goodwill.

So guys like Kuzy and Mantha are OK to move.

[My2Cents]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Craig has a plan and he’s going to stick to it no matter the outcome this season.
There’s no rush, there’s no panic.
We’re building for the future and he’s not going to mortgage that future just because of a hot start.

Have faith guys, I think Craig’s done a wonderful job doing the right things so far.

Great to hear. I am all for this hot start (how fun as this season been so far!), but as they say in running "The first mile is a liar, dont ever trust it". Lets enjoy this for as long as it lasts but dont expect this to be the reality this season.

[Jaydee]

I would love if we could get a 1st for Kuz and then re-sign him as UFA

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Kuz is really hard to gauge, because even when he's producing he's far from a complete player. And he needs PP time and offensive starts to be effective. I think he's a tougher fit for a lot of teams.

I say that as a fan, who is hoping he stays here. He's really entertaining and cracks me up.

I would agree with that. I hope he stays myself, I don’t have a problem with them signing both guys. But I think with Kuz he is so elite in offensive situations that if he puts up 75-80 points this year someone will sign him. There are maybe 30 guys in the league that can consistently put up those types of numbers, someone will give him a long term contract.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Craig has a plan and he’s going to stick to it no matter the outcome this season.
There’s no rush, there’s no panic.
We’re building for the future and he’s not going to mortgage that future just because of a hot start.

Have faith guys, I think Craig’s done a wonderful job doing the right things so far.

Are we supposed to believe our lying eyes though? Or should we not concoct some fatalistic story that shows that Conroy has the opposite plan of what he has done and what he has said he would do?

[dino7c]

They wont mortgage the future but if this team is solidly in s playoff spot at the deadline they might get creative...using the cap space though not futures.

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

What do you realistically expect to happen if ownership deems them “ready to win”?

History to repeat itself from our last rebuild. Win now moves too early in the process out of pressure to get in and ‘see what happens’. That’s not Conroy’s plan, but I remain skeptical of ownership avoiding that temptation.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Kuz is really hard to gauge, because even when he's producing he's far from a complete player. And he needs PP time and offensive starts to be effective. I think he's a tougher fit for a lot of teams.

I say that as a fan, who is hoping he stays here. He's really entertaining and cracks me up.

He's really grown on me and has given us something to get excited about while watching games during a rebuild. I'm shifting towards keeping him IF the term and dollars are reasonable. Like Enoch said, if we can get him for 3 years or so where we don't need to maximize cap space and the return at the deadline is only a 3rd or something then I'd say keep him.

The homophobic stuff from him bothered me a lot when it happened and when we acquired him, but ultimately Russians are a very indoctrinated people so it's not really his fault he shares those views, I guess.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Yeah, Conroy has been nothing if not consistent in his approach. Rebuild, retool, whatever, what he said he wanted to do and what he’s proceeded to do can be simplified into clear goals:
- Improve the culture
- Be competitive
- Add youth
- Manage assets appropriately

He has yet to do anything that strayed from that plan, which is what he outlined in his first press conference.

The team is younger, more competitive, the culture is vastly improved, and assets have been managed well.

I’m sure he’d love if the team performed better or if he got even more for the assets he traded, but he’s working in reality. I don’t see a guy who sold anyone one thing and has been cornered into doing another.

I think people struggle with the fact that he’s actually balancing his priorities. They want him to be one thing, or manage in a way that’s more binary so it’s easier to understand, but instead he’s focused on what is best for the team.

Keeping a vet over Pelletier isn’t prioritizing youth, but it is prioritizing competitiveness (with a risk/reward impact on asset management). Trading Markstrom isn’t prioritizing competitiveness, but it is prioritizing culture and asset management.

What takes priority has been situational. But you can point to one of the four main things in every situation and see why he did it. They’re simple enough that I don’t see why people need it to be just one thing. And I like that he’s not afraid to make hard decisions that might put one thing over another, and then swap those priorities if another situation calls for something different.

Brad Treliving was the perfect mentor for Conroy in the same way that a canary is a good mentor for a miner.

[BigThief]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Why?

Barrie is 33 years old with 800+ NHL games under his belt.

He is what he is.

Miromanov is 6 years younger and has 52 NHL games. He may never amount to anything, but now is the time to find out.

Miromanov is 27, so I think he is what he is sticks to him as well. I'm just not seeing anything that has me going "wow, he needs to stay in the lineup!". Barrie isn't great and it's not like I'm a fan but it might be a good idea to give him a stretch of games so when he does have to go in he isn't colder than a witches privates.

[CliffFletcher]

The team is selling off veterans who don’t want to play here, acquiring draft capital, and avoiding signing long contracts to players over 30s. They’re not deliberating stripping the roster down to the studs in an effort to finish bottom-5 in the league. Which means they probably won’t finish bottom-5 in the league.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

History to repeat itself from our last rebuild. Win now moves too early in the process out of pressure to get in and ‘see what happens’. That’s not Conroy’s plan, but I remain skeptical of ownership avoiding that temptation.

Like what kind of win now moves specifically?

They don’t really have the assets to make win-now moves.

[VilleN]

Originally Posted by jayswin

Brad Treliving was the perfect mentor for Conroy in the same way that a canary is a good mentor for a miner.

This metaphor confuses me.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Like what kind of win now moves specifically?

They don’t really have the assets to make win-now moves.

I think win now moves would be keeping Kuz and Mantha even if they go UFA.

Or even signing them to extensions.

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Like what kind of win now moves specifically?

They don’t really have the assets to make win-now moves.

Splashy free agent signings. We have a million picks in the next couple drafts that could easily be leveraged for trades.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

I think win now moves would be keeping Kuz and Mantha even if they go UFA.

Or even signing them to extensions.

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

Splashy free agent signings. We have a million picks in the next couple drafts that could easily be leveraged for trades.

Hmmm, yeah, I don’t really see how any of that (outside of walking Mantha and Kuz to UFA) would be inconsistent with how Conroy already operates this team.

He’ll sign Mantha or Kuz if they’re playing well, a fit on the team, and want to be here, regardless of how the team is doing. If not, he’ll trade them. One of them might get walked to UFA if they’re playing well don’t produce and don’t get any offers. No different than how he treated Hanifin or Kylington.

I also expect him to go after FA like Theodore, Chychrun, Bennett, etc regardless of how the team does this year. He didn’t sign a guy like Mantha just for a warm body.

And he’s already shown a willingness to trade picks if it makes sense to him.

I guess my point is: Conroy is operating a certain way, and it’s easy to look at some moves and say he’s rebuilding and others and say he’s trying to win now, but he’s just consistent in how he’s trying to build his team.

You should expect FA signings and for some picks to be available in trade regardless of how the team does. Even if they’re bottom 3.

[Roof-Daddy]

I see both Kuz and Mantha as guys that you may be able to sign to extensions that aren't crippling. Mantha especially. And even with moderate raises neither of them would eat into the cap much. They already combine for a $9 million cap hit.

The biggest thing I don't want to see is the Flames being buyers at the deadline, and sending picks/futures for rentals. And I highly doubt Conroy will do that even if they continue to have success and look like a shoe in for the playoffs.

[Yeah_Baby]

Bankers at the deadline, taking on bad contracts for assets though yes

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by VilleN

This metaphor confuses me.

From Oxford Dictonary:

canary in the coal mine
phrase of canary
an early indicator of potential danger or failure.
"native brook trout are very much the canary in the coal mine for the health of a stream"